Sail Day

SailDay
Originally uploaded by The Third Way.

Whew! I am beat! And I'm as beet red as a greek boy can get, too. Note to self: Sunscreen washes off in the water.

Just thought I would quickly post on the new (to me) sailboat and Jeep Diesel Liberty combo.

First the Jeep pulls stronger than my suburban. I have towed SlowRide with both and the Jeep accelerates better and pulls hills LOTS better. Go figure. However, the Jeep just doesn't have a long enough wheelbase for this big a boat. Past 60MPH the boat starts swaying. NOT good. So I drive 56MPH to the lake and back with no drama.

Launching was a bitch. Not because of any problem with floating the boat, starting the motor or pulling up and down the ramp though. The boat stuck to the trailer.

I backed down the ramp until the water was up to my rear axle. I figure that'll do. Can't get the boat off. Joe "the Drill" is in the boat with the motor runnin' trying to back it off when I notice the trailer drifting to the side.

"Joe, the trailer's floatin'.", says I. "All the straps are off, I don't know why it would.", says he.

So, I pushed the trailer back onto the ramp, pulled forward (make diesel sounds now) and gave the trailer a once over. That's when we figured out the boat was actually STUCK to the trailer. It seems the paint Joe "the drill" used on the bottom made the hull adhere to the boards on the trailer.

I backed it down and stood on the trailer fender bouncing. Pop! other side, Pop!

Free at last, I put the Jeep in a parking spot and we motored to the middle of the lake to begin sailing.

More to come.

Goodnight!